Share this story

When a man named Temüjin was given the title of Genghis Khan in 1206, the Mongols were a recently united people, tucked away in the northeast corner of Asia. By the time Genghis Khan died in 1227, they were sunning themselves on the shores of both the Pacific Ocean and the Caspian Sea. By 1241 they were knocking at Vienna's door, and they remained the terror of eastern Europe for the rest of the century. The Mongols claimed the largest consolidated land empire in history. Seemingly the only way to keep them out was to put the Himalayas between you and them. And many historians believe their power stemmed from an incredibly simple technological innovation: the stirrup.

No one knows when the stirrup was first invented, but it was a boon to any military that used it. Even the simplest of stirrups, a leather loop, let mounted soldiers ride longer distances and stay mounted on their horses during battle. The military success of the forebears of the Cossacks is often attributed to two loops of leather. Same with the Goths and the Huns. Some believe the stirrup even shifted the balance of power in Europe from foot soldiers to mounted knights, dubbed the "armored tanks" of the medieval world by historian Roman Johann Jarymowycz.

The Mongols took things further. Historians think they not only had leather stirrups, but metal ones as well. In 2016, archaeologists at the Center of Cultural Heritage of Mongolia unearthed the remains of a Mongolian woman dating back to the 10th century AD. Along with sturdy leather boots and some changes of clothes, she was buried with a saddle and metal stirrups described as in such good condition that they could still be used today. The stirrups are one continuous thick piece of metal with an open loop for a saddle strap on the top and a wide, flattened, and slightly rounded foot rest. The stirrups had to be comfortable and tough, because Mongols used them to ride in a way no one else rode.

Enlarge/ This pair of 1,100-year-old metal stirrups was unearthed from a Mongolian woman's grave in 2016. They were part of a well-preserved saddle with reinforcements that would have allowed the rider unprecedented mobility.

The Center of Cultural Heritage of Mongolia.

A general of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) described the Mongols riding long distances standing up in the saddle, with "the main weight of the body upon the calves or lower part of the leg with some weight upon the feet and ankles." The stirrups were meant to keep the rider centered and upright in even the most tumultuous situation. They hung from a saddle that was made of wood and had a high back and front. These, supplemented with endless hours of practice, gave a Mongol rider unprecedented stability. The rider could maintain hands-free balance on the horse while the horse twisted and turned and while the rider himself turned in the saddle. A fluidly mobile rider could then use his hands to fire arrows in any direction as he rode.

At a time when most armies won by driving ineluctably forward, the Mongols advanced and retreated while never letting up on their assault. When they met their opposition, their cavalry galloped forward with wild agility, shooting arrows continuously, presenting a terrifying united front. As they got within a few yards of the other army, the charging horsemen's unity broke. They turned and galloped away as quickly as they'd come.

The power of retreat

Historian Thomas Craughwell explains that an ability to twist in their saddles meant that, even as the Mongols rode away, they could shoot arrows back toward the enemy army. As the army continued to charge and retreat, their patterns became ever more chaotic. Marco Polo, who saw the Mongols in action, described their technique: "They never let themselves get into a regular melee, but keep perpetually riding around and shooting into the enemy."

If traditional mounted troops were like tanks, Mongol-mounted warriors were fighter pilots. Their mastery of movement made them unbeatable. The other army would advance on a shifting, uniting, scattering, and reuniting foe.

Enlarge/ This is a representation of a battle between Mongols and the Chinese, recorded in 1211 in the Jami' al-tawarikh, by Rashid al-Din. Note the Mongols standing in their saddles.

When all else failed, the Mongols used psychology. At a signal, the cavalry could wheel around and make a convincingly jumbled false retreat. Unwary opposition forces would often then charge after them, believing that the battle had, unexpectedly, gone their way. The Mongol cavalry would then turn right back around, having lured a few overconfident souls too close. More often, though, they would continue their retreat and then maneuver out of the way. Then, unmounted archers would shower the pursuing army with arrows, and more heavily armored cavalry could charge in with lances. At that point, the battle was as good as over.

The Mongolian Empire's stunning rise to power reveals how one technological development provided a literal stepping point for a new style of warfare—one that could not be resisted by any existing army. The largest land empire the world has ever known did not exist because of any one factor. A thousand different circumstances helped Genghis Khan and his immediate descendants conquer most of a continent. But the stirrup played an indispensable role. Engineering the perfect stirrup gave an army, and a people, an ineradicable place in history.

Promoted Comments

I just completed a two-day introductory blacksmithing course. It has given me new appreciation for hand-made metalwork. Those stirrups are pretty amazing. They look factory made. The loops are really precisely formed. The flats for the feet are nicely contoured and really thin. Also, they had to do forge-welding to close the circle, can't tell where the join was made. In addition to the skill in making the stirrups, they also had access to the iron needed. There is a lot of implied knowledge there that we take for granted now.

So it was the Mongolians who invented the drive-by shooting? I always thought it originated from Compton.

Wasn't even them. Plenty of steppe tribes lived on horseback and practiced wicked archery, you kind of had to if you wanted to eat. Heck, the non-steppe Parthians that bounded Rome's eastern expansion made quick work of legions by employing the "Parthian Shot," a feint where they appear to be riding in retreat but then turn in the saddle as they're going and fire backwards towards the pursuers.

I just completed a two-day introductory blacksmithing course. It has given me new appreciation for hand-made metalwork. Those stirrups are pretty amazing. They look factory made. The loops are really precisely formed. The flats for the feet are nicely contoured and really thin. Also, they had to do forge-welding to close the circle, can't tell where the join was made. In addition to the skill in making the stirrups, they also had access to the iron needed. There is a lot of implied knowledge there that we take for granted now.

That fighter pilot comparison is pretty apt. Sounds like the classic energy fighter versus angles fighter. Maneuver into position, attack, break off, observe the target, get into attack position rinse/repeat without getting bogged down in a dogfight (or in this case, melee!).

The headline is disappointingly deterministic, IMO. The stirrup was a key innovation for the Mongols, but it was by no means the single key to unlocking the greatest land empire in human history.

Their ability to incorporate foreign technologies into their culture is often cited. Their warrior training systems and their soldiers' tactical skills with mounted archery and bravery were also significant. They also had a federated political control system, where they left local leadership in place so long as they remained loyal and sent funds upward reliably, which allowed them to grow their empire incredibly rapidly (similar to the US's strategy for Westward Expansion under Jefferson and later).

Their ruthlessness and political cunning were also notable, even in an era where ruthlessness and cunning were not in short supply.

They actually sucked at this, at first. City walls kept hundreds of similar steppe tribes from overrunning the world. It wasn't until the Mongols captured siege engineers from Chinese kingdoms that they started to get really good at taking walled cities. Their first targets were other Chinese cities. Then they turned their eye on the Islamic world. After that, well, there's not much of a buffer between them and Christendom in Europe...

"Standing in his stirrups, a Mongolian soldier could shoot even while retreating. This was a revolutionary battle tactic at the time."

Umm the Parthians predate the Mongols by a fair amount of time, and perfected that technique. As the ealier posted noted, it was not technology that made the Mongols so successful, it was their willingness to adapt and adopt foreign practices that made them what they were.

So it was the Mongolians who invented the drive-by shooting? I always thought it originated from Compton.

Wasn't even them. Plenty of steppe tribes lived on horseback and practiced wicked archery, you kind of had to if you wanted to eat. Heck, the non-steppe Parthians that bounded Rome's eastern expansion made quick work of legions by employing the "Parthian Shot," a feint where they appear to be riding in retreat but then turn in the saddle as they're going and fire backwards towards the pursuers.

I came here to say the same thing. But what's a thousand years, give or take?

"Parthian shot" also refers to throwing out a witty comment just as you're leaving a room.

So it was the Mongolians who invented the drive-by shooting? I always thought it originated from Compton.

Wasn't even them. Plenty of steppe tribes lived on horseback and practiced wicked archery, you kind of had to if you wanted to eat. Heck, the non-steppe Parthians that bounded Rome's eastern expansion made quick work of legions by employing the "Parthian Shot," a feint where they appear to be riding in retreat but then turn in the saddle as they're going and fire backwards towards the pursuers.

Most of Asia and Europe armies depended on weaponary, armor, and no mobility. Mongolians brought speed into the battle with their flanking and archery skills. They were basically human turrets on horses.

Some historians also think the Mongol sack of Baghdad contributed to the world order we have even today. At that time, Baghdad was very advanced. Way more so than any European civilization. Its burning set their culture back centuries, allowing European civilization to thrive when it otherwise would have had a hard time competing.

Some historians also think the Mongol sack of Baghdad contributed to the world order we have even today. At that time, Baghdad was very advanced. Way more so than any European civilization. Its burning set their culture back centuries, allowing European civilization to thrive when it otherwise would have had a hard time competing.

It doesn't work that way. If anything europe would have advanced faster being able to trade with more advanced nations.

And the one specific key strategy no one has mentioned that might be most important of all. If you surrendered to the Mongols they were relatively merciful. If you fought them they would kill everyone, including pets. After the capture of Bejing every mongol soldier was tasked with decapitating 30 citizens to ensure none survived.

It is also worth noting that many Mongol riders had more than one horse. (To this day there are more horses in Mongolia than people.) This, coupled with their ability to operate with out supply lines, allowed them to become the fasting moving army until mechanization.